Sullinger misses practice; back issue ongoing

Doc Rivers first developed back trouble while playing at Marquette University, and simply learned to tolerate the discomfort over the course of his career.

The Celtics coach can see his rookie forward Jared Sullinger, following a similar path.

The Celtics forward, a day after leaving Wednesday's win over Sacramento due to back spasms, missed today's practice. The Celtics coach termed his availability for tomorrow night's game against Orlando "50-50," and can envision similar detours the rest of the season as Sullinger continues to absorb more games and pounding under the basket.

Back trouble, lest anyone forget, was a big reason behind Sullinger's slide down the draft chart last June. Rivers only hopes his starting power forward can learn to endure the pain like so many players before him.

"When you have a back it’s all connected," said Rivers. "It’s not one thing, it’s everything. When you have a back spasm I’m sure it’s connected somehow. I’m not that concerned. He may miss games, but it’s not anything (serious). My guess is that he plays with it every day. I had a back injury my whole career, and once you have a back, you have a back.

"I injured it in college and you’re always aware of it," he said. "You just have to play through the pain. I don’t even think about it much. The other day I think he told Eddie (trainer Lacerte) that he’s never felt better. Backs are tempermental. People do what they want."